


rare and sweet

by oceanburned



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:21:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24415024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oceanburned/pseuds/oceanburned
Summary: asra and delilah go shopping. mutual pining ensues.for the love like yours arcana fest.
Relationships: Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana)
Kudos: 12





	rare and sweet

It had been a long time since Delilah had visited the Marketplace during the day. The midday sun beat down on the narrow, unshaded streets, warming the moving water beneath Delilah's feet until it steamed. The planks that made up the walkway shuddered nervously, and creaked under the feet of the market goers as they hurried from booth to booth. 

A few paces ahead, her master, Asra, peered between the stream of passing bodies at a stall boasting Prakran crystals. His scarf was wound around his shoulders, shading his chest from the merciless sun. Faust peeked out from beneath it, basking her head in the warmth. 

As if he sensed her looking, Asra glanced over at her, his lips turned up just enough to give the finest impression of his dimples. "What do you think about that quartz?" he asked, pointing to something Delilah couldn't see, "I was thinking of getting something to cleanse the cards between readings..." As he spoke, he turned back to the stall, stepping forward and stemming the flow of passersby. Yellow-white sunlight cascaded over him, illuminating his hair to a neon white that was almost blinding in its brilliance. His skin warmed to a glowing gold. Like that, he looked more like a painting of Asra than Asra himself. 

Delilah shaded her eyes as she approached him, not unaware of the glances they were receiving from those who stepped around them. While some were not so covert glances at Asra in his day-lit glory, most were directed at her. Probably people remembering her at her worst, babbling and clinging to Asra as he led her through town, teaching her to walk. Then, Delilah had relied heavily on Asra to make it around the few blocks surrounding her Shop, leaning on him like he was a walking cane. By now, she had come far enough to walk by herself, though her gait was still stumbling and uneven. 

Luckily, she didn't have to worry too much about falling: Asra never stepped too far out of her grasp, and if he wasn't casting her sideways glances, Faust was watching her over Asra's shoulder. 

Delilah stopped in the space beside Asra , in front of the booth. One of Asra's scarves was wrapped around her head, both to hide her face and to shade her from the sun. It didn't stop the shopkeep peered at her strangely though, as if trying to puzzle out where they knew her from. Bowing her head, Delilah ignored the weight of their gaze to examine the crystals laid out over the desk. Chippings of clear emeralds and misty moonstone sat beside amethysts and sapphires the size of Delilah's hand. They cast an array of dazzling colour over the rich cloth covering the booth. Some of the crystals were tied onto thick leather straps to make pendants and pendulums and necklaces. Others were studded into rings, held in view on various stone fingers on shelves behind the shopkeep. 

Gesturing for her attention, Asra lifted up a palm-sized rock of clear quartz, almost as white as his hair, for Delilah to judge. "Too big?" Delilah frowned. "Too small?" 

That time, Delilah shook her head, a small smile touching at the corners of her lips. Asra nodded thoughtfully and then placed the crystal down on the table. As he went back to inspecting the stock, conversing quietly with the shopkeep, Delilah set her sights on the other wares. Her fingers brushed idly over the sharp edge of a topaz, watching the way her fingers were dyed yellow in the reflection off the stone's bright skin. Next, she examined a brass ring, covered in insignias and inset with onyx. Within the onyx, she saw not her reflection in the smooth surface, but an entrancing mass of colour moving just beneath, rich and clear as a rainbow. She only found her eyes drawn away when a gentle pressure caught her arm. 

"Maybe your friend would like some jewellery? The onyx would look quite dashing against her skin," the shopkeep said to Asra. Delilah glanced at him. He was already looking down at her, his hand still clutching the soft skin above her elbow. When he realised, he dropped his hand away like she had burned him and averted his eyes.

"Well, Delilah? Is there something you want?" Asra asked, stroking his finger idly over the velvet trappings of the booth to keep his hands occupied. His eyes skirted everywhere but over Delilah. 

Working her lower lip, Delilah cast one last look at the selection of crystals. She was just about to shake her head when her eyes caught on a pair of necklaces behind the shopkeep. The necklaces hung side by side on long, metal pegs, moving slightly in some unfelt breeze. Both were made of crystals held on dark, thick cords, shaped like droplets of water. One was rose quartz, Delilah recognised, but the other was a bright teal-coloured stone that she didn't know the name of. 

She glanced at Asra, who perked up at the attention, back straightening. "What?" he asked, following the line of her finger as she pointed to the pieces. "Those?" Obligingly, the shopkeep took the necklaces down from the peg for Asra to examine more closely. He peered down at them once they were flat in his palm, running his fingers over the grooves in their glassy surfaces, ford chafing between his fingers. Eventually, he turned his gaze on her, intense with some emotion Delilah couldn't quite place. "For both of us?" he asked, voice just carrying over the noise. 

Delilah nodded, hiding the blush that rose up on her cheeks in the shadow of the scarf. As if he could see it, Asra smiled cattishly, narrowing his eyes in a way that she would have construed as vaguely flirtatious. If it had been directed at anyone else, at least.

In his hands, the necklaces looked perfect. The blue for Asra: in their lessons, Asra had been teaching her- slowly- about auras and mana, in which blue represented water. The element of Asra's affinity. And the colour too was vibrant and shining, glowing the midday light so that everything around it appeared to be underwater. Perfect for Asra, who adored anything outrageous and gaudy. Then, for her-

"Rose quartz," Asra muttered, mildly amused, bringing the necklace to his lips and pressing a kiss to the stone. "For trust, healing." He paused, "And unconditional love." 

As he said it, he lifted the necklace over Delilah's head and placed it on her. The way he moved, the way he looked at her, the way his fingers just brushed against her exposed collarbones, all spoke to a sort of reverence that Delilah had never experienced before. Shyly, she took his necklace from him and let him duck down so she could do the same. Her fingers lingered over the soft fabric of his scarf, Faust's warmth coming up through the thin shawl, still clutching the cord...

"I suppose you'll be taking them then," the shopkeep said, shattering the moment. 

Asra flushed, almost leaping back as he began digging in his bag. A moment later, he pulled out a velvet pouch and dumped the contents on the desk. Out spilled an assortment of bundled herbs, pastel seashells, and strange-looking stones. Before the shopkeep could register that Asra hadn't actually given them any money, too busy staring in awe at a pearl as it rolled into an amethyst with a chime, Asra took Delilah's hand and pulled her back onto the street proper, calling their thanks over his shoulder. 

As the made their escape, Faust poked at stone bouncing over Asra's heart. He chuckled, rubbing her chin with his free hand. Even though he'd been the one to insist Delilah walk on her own that day, he seemed unwilling to let go of her hand, even after they had turned onto another street. "You like it, Faust?" he asked, grip tightening subtly on Delilah's fingers. "We can get you something just as pretty, if you like. Delilah's taste is impeccable." There was a hint of a wink in his voice that had Delilah nudging him playfully, hiding her laughter behind her spare hand.

Later, when Delilah had tired out from all the walking, they sat at the baker's stall, splitting a loaf of pumpkin bread and basking in the golden afternoon light on the warm stone of the steps. The scent of spice and fire and yeast cut through the stifling whiff of steaming sea water and burning dust, so relaxing and familiar Delilah could collapse to sleep right there on the stairs. But when she turned to make a comment of that affect to Asra, Delilah found her voice stolen. 

There, beside her, his eyes staring sightlessly into the middle distance, Delilah caught Asra toying idly with the stone at his throat, pressing its warm surface to his chest. Over his heart. Faust curled around his arm, her tongue flicking to taste the air over the crystal, nuzzling against his hand. His profile was cut handsomely against the stone, still and calm where the rest of the market remained hectic and bustling around them. It was as if they had a pocket of space untouched by the rest of the world, where Asra's still beauty could be freed.

He noticed her looking far too quickly for her liking, drawing her from her reverie. "Oh, sorry. I'm hogging the bread," he chuckled, holding out the loaf to her. Their fingers brushed as she took it from him. "You're not too hungry, are you? I can cook something when we get home if you are." Light caught in his eyelashes, turning them as white and wistful as starlight, glimmering over the shadowed purple of his eyes. They cast feathering shadows over his golden-brown cheekbones, doing nothing to diminish their exaggerated glow in the soft light of the coming evening. So long had she spent with Asra awake into the night that she hadn't noticed how gorgeous he was in the daylight. Not more gorgeous than he was in the soft illumination of moonlight, but beautiful in a different way. 

Delilah shook her head belatedly, taking a bite out of the loaf to hide her smile. She was full enough already.


End file.
